Messier heads Hall of Fame 2007 class

Mark Messier aimed for championships during his 25-season career, not the Hall of Fame.

“It wasn’t something in Canada as a boy that we aspired to,” Messier said. “Our big thing was pretending we were an NHL player and scoring the winning goal to win the Stanley Cup. That was the dream.”

He lived it, time and time again. Six to be exact.

Messier netted the decisive goal in 1994 to end the Rangers’ 54-year drought without a title. Add that to his legacy born in Edmonton with the Oilers, who won five times in seven years.

Three years removed from his playing days, Messier will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto today. The 46-year-old former center will be joined by defensemen Scott Stevens and Al MacInnis, forward Ron Francis and builder Jim Gregory, an NHL executive and former general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Blackhawks 3, Red Wings 2: At Chicago, NHL rookie scoring leader Patrick Kane had a power-play goal and an assist to help the Blackhawks beat Detroit, ending the Red Wings’ record-tying winning streak at nine games.

Yanic Perreault and rookie Jonathan Toews also scored, and Jason Williams and Robert Lang each had two assists for the Blackhawks in their third straight victory and third of the season over Detroit.

Avalanche 4, Wild 2: At Denver, Paul Stastny had two goals and an assist to help Colorado beat Minnesota.

Peter Budaj stopped 25 shots, and Ryan Smyth had a goal and an assist.

The Wild pulled Niklas Backstrom with 29.3 seconds remaining, and Wojtek Wolski sealed the game for Colorado on an empty-net goal with a second left.